Mary Ann Fuller – wife of Chen Quin Jack

Born: 9 November 1868 in Spring Hill, Brisbane QLD (no record found in QLD BDM)
Died: 12 May 1943 in Tingha NSW aged 75
Father: FULLER William
Mother: McCLURE Hester

Esther, Mary’s mother, travelled down through NSW with her child, perhaps seeking work in mining towns. In 1877, when Mary was 10 years old, her mother Esther found security in an enduring marriage with William Too Tong, a Chinese miner, and laborer.

Together they had 5 children — Ellen, William, Joseph, Sarah, Sidney. Strangely, on the birth certificates, Esther has given her daughter’s name Mary Ann Fuller as the mother.

Chen Quin Jack married Mary Ann Fuller in 1886 in the Wesleyan Methodist church in Tingha. He was 49 and Mary 18. Together they had eight children: William Henry, Ethel May, Frederick Charles (my great Grandfather), Sidney Lesley, Violet Sylvia, Veronica Pearl, Cecil Ambrose.

Mary Fuller having grown up in a mixed-race family, having half-Chinese siblings and a Chinese step-father, perhaps explains why it was considered acceptable for this young 18-year old white woman to marry a 49-year old Chinese man. Marriage to Quin Jack would have given Mary security and stability.

Until recently we weren’t aware of any existing photographs of Quin Jack. My mother Chris Brown, found two very small, but good quality photos. The first, a portrait of a single Chinese male and the second a couple with a baby. The same Chinese man appeared in both. Because we can identify Mary, we knew that the ‘man’ in the photograph with her, was none-other than Quin Jack.

What is particularly interesting in the photograph of the couple, that while Quin Jack is wearing European clothing, on close scrutiny, we can detect his traditional Chinese Queue, Mary is well dressed, the style typical of the 1880s, a two-piece matching rigid corset, and bustle with jeweled accessories which reasonably accurately dates the photograph from the late 1880’s to mid-1890s. The baby – possibly their first-born child – William Henry ‘Billo’ born 1887.

Quin and Mary had seven surviving children amongst them my Great Grandfather Frederick Charles (seen in the oval) who was born in 1889. The other children were William (Billo), Ethel (Cissy), Sidney (Les), Silvia, Cecil, and Veronica.

Children of Mary Fuller and Quin Jack

William Henry Jack
BIRTH — 1887, Tingha, NSW Australia
DEATH — 3 APR, 1963, Tingha, NSW Australia

Frederick Charles Jack
BIRTH — 20 NOV 1888 Tingha, NSW Australia
DEATH — 19 DEC 1931, Inverell, NSW Australia (drowning)

Ethel May Jack
BIRTH — 01 FEB 1890, Tingha, NSW Australia
DEATH — 25 JUL 1949, Petersham, NSW, Australia

Sydney Leslie Jack
BIRTH — 5 MAR 1896, Bundarra, NSW Australia
DEATH — 1993, Coonabarabran NSW Australia

Sylvia Violet Jack
BIRTH — 29 JUL 1898, Tingha NSW Australia
DEATH — 16 JAN 1975,  NSW Australia

Cecil Ambrose Jack
BIRTH — 10 JULY 1901, Cope-Hardinge Creek, Tingha, NSW. Australia
DEATH — Unknown

Veronica Pearl Jack
BIRTH — 1907, Tingha, New South Wales
DEATH — 2 OCT, 1973, Concord, New South Wales, Australia

In my collection, I have two early Tingha School photographs.

Mary Jack c1940

Mary Jack c1910

Tombstone Chen Quin Jack & Mary Fuller

Mary Jack c1930

Death Certificate Mary Fuller